AN: Okay, let me first admit that I've not played much of the mobile game so most of my Azur Lane knowledge comes from the Anime, Crosswave, the various Mangas, the 'Episode of Belfast' Light Novel and some Doujinshi that are...let's say of a certain nature.

So if I get anything inaccurate, please don't hesitate to let me know.

And on the subject of inaccuracies, Some characters like Bruce and Damian might come off as being a little OOC in this story. Damian for example is actually the voice of reason and Bruce is more sentimental with some thinly-veiled horndog tendencies.

With that out of the way, I hope you guys find this enjoyable and Happy Batman Day!

Batman and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics. Batman is created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.

Azur Lane is owned by Manjuu Co.,Ltd. & Yongshi Co.,Ltd. / Yostar, Inc.


CHAPTER 01: Siren's Swansong

Under the clear orange-turning sky and cruising over the vast blue/green expanse of the North Atlantic was 'The Saint Dini', a private vessel 150 feet in length that boasted almost every luxurious amenity a rich socialite and his friends could ask for.

And that certainly was the case a few hours ago. The yacht had already sailed a few nautical miles away from the Gotham harbor and was where its owner, one of the city's wealthy elites, had been hosting a grand soiree with 12 of his equally wealthy guests.

Now however, there were only three people aboard the Saint Dini and they were all situated atop of the boat's fly deck, nestled inside the built-in hot tub.

"Aaaah, now this is living." Poison Ivy gave a delightful sigh.

The crimson haired woman, who was wearing a green striped bikini and a pair of sunglasses over her eyes, eased herself further in, enjoying the warm bubbling water over her pale green skin.

"You said it, Red." chirped Harley Quinn who was clad in just a red bikini.

The blonde pig-tailed villainess grabbed a bottle of Bacardi from outside the hot-tub and offered it to the person sitting opposite her.

"Want me ta top ya off, Kitty?"

"By all means, Harls." smiled Selina Kyle as she held out her glass to be filled.

The woman with short black hair, known famously as Catwoman, was only wearing a gold ring bandeau bikini that was colored dark blue verging on black.

"I got to hand it you, at first I had my doubts about your plan to steal this yacht but consider me impressed." she said.

"It was child's play to use my pheromones to bring those plebs under my thrall." Ivy drawled out in an apathetic manner.

Harley stood up from the water as she made a hook gesture with one of her fingers while closing one eye.

"Arrgh! And make those landlubbers walk ta plank!" she acted out exaggeratedly with pirate-speak.

"Not without confiscating their valuables first, of course."

Selina purred as she took out a diamond necklace from the stash of jewelry she kept beside her on the edge of the Jacuzzi. Her green eyes glinted as she admired its brilliance.

"But as fun as this is, the question is 'what now?' Do we ditch the yacht somewhere in the Gotham bay?" asked Ivy.

"Ditch it!?" Harley balked. "Come on, Red. Why go back ta smelly ol' Gotham when we have a whole boat to ourselves?!"

After stepping out of the hot-tub, she walked towards the edge of the fly deck and gestured with her arms thrown wide.

"The whole ocean's our oystah! We can go wherever we want!"

But Ivy wasn't so convinced and she conveyed so, pulling her sunglasses down to her nose while shooting a sympathetic look towards her friend.

"Harley dear, you know I love you and all but you do realize that the boat is only going to go so far before it runs out of gas, don't you?"

Harley gave a huff and crossed her arms.

"Aright fine, so our destination options are little limited. Sue me." she pouted.

Her expression didn't last and almost immediately her face lit up again with lips stretched into a wide smile.

"But I checked the ship's stock and we happen ta have juuuust enough food and fuel for…wait fer it…" she paused for dramatic effect before announcing it in glee.

"Nassau!"

"Nassau?" Selina and Ivy echoed.

"Yeah, in the Bahamas! The sun, the beaches, the partying. The three of us could use a vacation, doncha think?"

The blonde woman waited in anticipation for their reaction to what was surely her bestest idea yet but to her dismay, Selina frowned and pulled herself up to sit on the edge of the hot-tub.

"I'll pass. Cats aren't too crazy about water, especially a week's worth of sea travel."

"Awww, and here I was hopin' the three of us would be spending our nights braiding each othah's hair, playing spin da bottle and pillow fightin' an' stuff." Harley bleated.

"This isn't some slumber party! And besides: as valuable as this haul is, it's hardly enough for some tropical getaway."

"Avast, me bucko!" The blonde suddenly went back to her piratey persona. "That where ye be mistaken! For this not be a mere tropical getaway but a treasure hunt!"

Selina raised a brow at her but was nonetheless curious.

"Treasure you say?"

In a jokey manner, Harley turned around and bent over to wave her ass while smacking it a couple of times.

"Aye! Boatloads of BOOTY there be!"

"Sweetie, this isn't a laughing matter." Ivy sighed while shaking her head.

"I'm serious!" Harley turned back around. "Mistah J needed a place to stash our…annual funds, ya might say. Somewhere where ol' Bats wouldn't know where ta look. So, he and I picked a spot around these waters and dumped 'em. And I happen ta know the exact location!"

"How much loot are we talking?" asked Selina.

"Tons!"

The black haired woman narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"And how do we know you're not just using us to fish it up for your dear ol' 'Puddin'?"

This earned a fierce glare from both Ivy and Harley.

"Hey! I got nothin' ta do wit Mistah J no more! He and I are through! Done! Dusted! Finnito! Ancient History!"

"A much better question, Cat…" Ivy asked in an icy tone while taking off her sunglasses. "Is how do we know you're not planning to swipe the loot for yourself?"

Selina folded her arms and crossed her legs in a smug manner as her lips curled into a smirk.

"You're absolutely right, Pam. You don't know."

A momentary tense silence followed afterwards, one which left Harley feeling awkward.

"See, that's the thing." Selina spoke up while standing. "I never did fit in with this little group. You and Harley may have history but I've always been a solo act."

"But it doesn't hafta be that way." Harley beseeched her.

"Fact is that the two of you do things your way and I do things my way."

Ivy gave a condescending laugh as she stood up as well.

"Oh please, don't act like you're any better than us. Why don't you just admit that that the only thing that separates you from us is that you're still carrying a torch for a certain Big Bad Bat?"

The plant mistress felt satisfaction as Selina flashed a venomous look at her and growled. The subject of Batman, and subsequently her feelings for him, was apparently still a sore one for her.

"But Red, I thought we agreed that both you and I have a thing for B-man too." Harley suddenly spoke up.

"Shush, Harley!" Ivy scolded her in a panicky fashion.

"What? Didn't ya just tell me yesterday that you've been fantasizin' about having his big 'mighty oak' plowin' inta yer fertile soil?"

"Harley!"

Selina couldn't believe it but there was an actually a blush on Ivy's face. Her jaw dropped in shock as she looked back and forth between the known ecco-terrorist and the Joker's former henchwoman.

"What? Both of you!?" she balked.

Harley gave a sheepish chuckle while Ivy simply remained quiet with a defiant frown.

"How long has this been going on?" Selina asked, trying her hardest to keep any tone of jealousy out of her voice.

"Ooooh, quite a while now." Harley made it sound like an understatement. "I mean, he was always right 'bout Puddi-…I mean, Mistah J."

There was a slight heart broken tone in her voice and coupled with the fact that she still refers to her so called ex as 'Mistah J' and not the Joker seems to indicate that even after all the abuse she went through, a part of her still hasn't moved on from the Clown Prince of Crime.

"But even aftah all the trouble I put him through, he was still there fer me when no one else was. Guys like that, y'know, shouldn't have bad days."

"And you?" Selina turned her sights towards Ivy.

The plant mistress tittered while running her fingers through her hair.

"What can I say, hun? There's clearly chemistry between us. Is that a problem?"

She asked challengingly; if the Cat wanted a throw down, she was more than confident to take her on. But Selina simply grinned.

"No. I don't mind a little competition."

Seeing an opportunity, Harley quickly attempted to diffuse the situation by trying to sell her on her obviously great idea again.

"Ya see?! The three of us have something in common after all. So whadaya say about my plan, Kitty?"

Holding both Selina's hands in hers, Harley gave her the ol' puppy dog eyes."

"C'mooon, it'll be fun!" she cajoled her.

A few seconds went by with silence from Selina, her face appearing pensive and hesitant. But then, she exhaled and spoke with her words trailing in a relenting tone.

"Well, Nassau does sound nice."

"Yay!"

Harley cheered and hugged the infamous thief, surprising her and making her feel a little uncomfortable.

After the blonde detached herself to go chat excitedly to Ivy, Selina sat herself down on the deck. As she silently mulled to herself, her gaze drifted out towards the sea; towards where Gotham had long disappeared at the horizon.

"I guess I could use some time away. Away from Gotham,…and away from him."

She looked on without any particular aim but then her brow slowly furrowed as she began to notice something in the distance. It was hard to make out its shape but it was dark and was approaching fast, with thick white sprays erupting from its sides as it cut through the surface of water like a knife.

It was only when it got a little closer did she make out the sleek black metal, red tinted cockpit windows and the tell-tale fin protruding from its top.

Selina couldn't help but grin.

"Speak of the devil."

"Don't look now girls, but I think we're being tailed." she announced as she stood up, grabbing Harley's and Ivy's attention.

The two women joined their compatriot by her sides, Ivy looking forward while holding her hand above her eyes.

"Well, well. Doesn't miss a beat, does he?" she smirked.

"What already!? I haven't even broken out the piñata yet!" Harley groaned.

"I'll drive, you two keep him busy." said Selina as she bounded off towards the boat's helm.

"Since when do you call the shots around here!?" Ivy called after her in irritation.

Ivy's attention was then caught by a short rattle noise and she looked to see Harley holding up what looked like a modified quad-barrel rocket launcher that was crudely spray painted on and tied with ribbons to make it look like a birthday present.

"Works fer me! I've been waitin' ta try this baby out!" she said excitedly.

With impressive agility, Harley leaped down from the fly deck on to the deck below and then the next deck below that until she got to the stern of the yacht.

"Viva la Torpeda, Bats!" she yelled out and then launched a single projectile in the air.

It wasn't a missile, but a torpedo spray painted with clown makeup! It splashed into the water before its propeller blades spun rapidly and sent it speeding towards its target.

Behind the red tinted cockpit window, Batman's eyes widened in alarm and reacted by swerving the Batboat to the side just as the torpedo exploded. Immediately, he sidewinded the watercraft to the opposite direction of another torpedo that was already launched at him, drawing an S on the ocean's surface before it was absorbed by the explosions.

"See? This is why I've said that we should've taken the Batwing instead. An aerial approach would've been more efficient."

The voice hit his ears from at the back of the cockpit where his son and co-pilot sat. If he was being honest, he wished Damian had stayed behind in the Manor but the boy was infuriatingly insistent on coming along.

One one hand, he supposed it was fine; Alfred mentioned that he hadn't been spending enough time with his son as he should. On the other, he couldn't say that his relationship with Damian was as straightforward as his relationship was with own father. And that probably had something to do with the fact that his ex-flame stole ten years of his upbringing away from him.

"Some things aren't always cut and dry, Robin. There are advantages to being on the water." Batman replied.

Although he internally admitted that Damian had a point, he had no intention of voicing that out loud. In truth, there was a more sentimental reason to why he decided to use take Batboat this time.

It was constructed during his earlier days when Dick Grayson was still his partner. The watercraft was a catamaran/monohull hybrid with a wave piercing mono hull, designed to cut through even the choppiest of seas. It had two other transformative modes: one where it utilized its bat-like wing design to act as a Hydrofoil, and another where the protrusions would fold to allow the craft to turn into a submersible.

However, compared to the rest of his arsenal of vehicles, he barely used the Batboat; it wasn't like there was an abundance of nautical-related cases where it would be required.

Still, he felt bad for letting it collect dust in the cave for years and figured that he'd use the opportunity to bring it out. Especially after he already spent so much to build the thing in the first place.

"Stop being so good at dodgin' and slow down, wouldja?!" Harley yelled as she launched two more torpedoes at them.

Just as before, Batman was able to swerve the Batboat away from the explosives.

"Aw dangit, I'm all out."

Harley complained as she held the rocket launcher upside down and shook it like she was trying to get something more out of it. She stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder and caused her to look and find Ivy standing next to her.

"I'll take it from here, dear." said Ivy as she held up a corked vial that was filled with seeds, each half centimeter in size.

She then uncorked the vial and poured the seeds into her palm before throwing and spreading them into the waters below. After a reaction from the saltwater, a tall surge of green suddenly erupted from the waves. They appeared to be wildly mutated water Hyacinths, multiplying rapidly and combining together with wriggling vines to form a wall.

Batman could see the large living barricade fast approaching him and reacted fast by activating the boat's submersible mode and then diving before the plants would engulf him.

The vehicle dived under, barely touching the roots from above, before finally breaking through the sea's surface like a whale.

"Told you there were advantages." Batman dryly commented.

"tt." Robin huffed. "We could've still flown over it so my point still stands."

Despite failing to stop the pursuing Dark Knight, Ivy felt herself getting flushed with excitement at the thought him getting nearer to her.

"He didn't even hurt my babies to get past them! Oooh!" she internally swooned.

She came to the conclusion that he must've cared about her after all. What else could it mean? Her arousal peaked and she resisted the urge to fondle herself but just as she was about to be lost in her fantasies, the yacht suddenly rocked and nearly threw Ivy and Harley overboard had the duo not held on to the railings.

"What does that thief think she doing!?" the plant mistress hissed.

"Imma go check!" said Harley as she bounded back towards the ship's control room.

At the helm was Selina struggling at the helm, gritting her teeth as she gripped the wheel tightly.

"Hey Kitty, what gives?" came Harley behind her.

"It's not the boat!" Selina yelled through her strain. "The waters are acting up!"

Pamela soon followed inside ready to give the renowned thief a piece of her mind when her sights fell upon the windshield and noticed that the skies had suddenly swirled with pitch dark clouds that occasionally shot out jagged trails of lightning.

"Where did this storm come from? The weather was clear just moments ago!" she asked.

"Would you two just come over here and help me out with this already!?" snapped Selina.

Harley immediately jumped at her "request" and grabbed a hold of one side of the wheel. Even with two woman gripping the steering, the rough waves battered against the rudder and threatened to send the Saint Dini out of control. So involved was the struggling duo in holding the wheel steady, that they didn't notice Poison Ivy saunter up to them while taking out a single seed from her bikini.

She placed it in her mouth, running her tongue over it to coat it in saliva. And when she took it out, there was an instant reaction where a young plant sprouted.

Ivy then simply tossed it at the wheel where it rapidly grew into a mass of thick vines, surprising both Selina and Harley as it coiled and tangled around the wheel before instantly spreading itself over the control panel and anchoring the wheel in place.

"There, I solved your little problem." Ivy said haughtily.

At first, Selina blinked at Ivy's handiwork but then she turned to her with a frown.

"Do you think this'll actually hold?"

"Of course it'll hold! What do take me for!?"

"Sorry if I sound a little skeptical…Pam." Selina added the last part condescendingly. "But it's not like we're anywhere near a lump of soil, are we?"

"Erm,…girls?" Harley tried to get their attention.

"The mineral enriched moisture in the air is all that my babies need. Maybe you should try to act a little grateful, Cat." Ivy fired back.

"GIRLS!" Harley yelled out.

"WHAT!?" Ivy and Selina turned to her.

"There's somthin' out there!" she said, pointing fearfully towards the windshield.

The other two villainesses looked towards the direction and sure enough, they saw it too. It was a huge shape, silhouetted against the flash of lightning and as big as a small truck, that hovered just over the front deck.

The Saint Dini wasn't the only vessel struggling against the waves. A good distance behind it, the Batboat rocked from the trashing waters and would've capsized from its small size if not for its wave-breaking design. However, that's not to say that Batman wasn't struggling keeping the boat stable.

Just like the trio of villainesses, both Batman and Robin were perplexed by the storm's sudden appearance but that wouldn't be the only strange thing they would encounter. They could also hear a series of light metallic 'thunks' impact against the boat's hull. It felt like they were passing through a surface of small ice chunks but that didn't make any sense. Could it be debris from the yacht?

Batman peered to the side through the cockpit window but with the darkened skies and undulating sea, he couldn't find anything.

"Father, do you see them?" Robin spoke up. "They're just…cubes?"

With his son mentioning it, he could just make them out bobbing along the surface of the water and they were exactly what he said they were. There were many of them, glass-like black cubes about the size of a grapefruit that was radiating with a wispy dark purple energy.

"Okay. Perhaps more than just cubes." Damian added.

The purple glow grew more intense and casted its rippling refracted light over the water's surface until there was loud electrical buzzing sound like static. And then, as if tearing through their fabric of space, large objects began to appear on the water through a purple electric veil that moved along their length until they well fully revealed.

Surrounding them were a fleet of black ships with glowing red accents.

"Definitely more than just cubes."

And sure enough, the fleet aimed their cannons towards the Batboat and opened fire.

"HOLD ON!" Batman yelled as he pushed the jet engine to maximum thrust.

With some evasive maneuvers, the Batboat zig-zaged across the water and avoided the shells beings lobbed at them.

"Keep them busy. I'm going in!" Robin declared as he suddenly opened the canopy glass over his seat.

"You stay put right now! Stop!" Batman exclaimed at him.

But it was too late, for Robin then equipped himself with his mini jet-pack before rocketing off into the air and towards one of the ships.

Batman could only grit his teeth in aggravation. Despite him silently cursing his son for his recklessness, he also worried for him as a father would and resigned himself to trust that Damian knew what he was doing.

As the three ladies of Gotham got closer to the object hovering over the deck, they found that the thing appeared to be metallic, black with gold accents and bared a resemblance to combination between a nautilus and a throne.

Like the sea animal, it was shaped like a spiral ridged shell but with sharp angled spines along its back, a bill-shaped hood at the top and octopus-like eyes positioned just below the hood. The rest of it looked man-made; with a seat under the hood and twin cylindrical disks on its sides where four gun barrels were fitted and spread along its curve. Protruding from under the seat was a mass of splayed tentacles much like what a nautilus would have.

But it was the distinctively feminine humanoid figure that lounged on that seat that drew the attention of the trio of femme fatales.

The three ladies already readied themselves with their weapons and tensed their bodies up as the figure pushed herself off and floated down on to the deck. Selina with her whip, Harley with her oversized mallet and Ivy with vines encircling around her arms.

At first sight, they internally couldn't deny that the woman before them was bewitchingly beautiful, an allure that could even give Ivy a run for her money. Long silver locks danced in the fierce wind and her otherworldly golden eyes shone through the dark.

Her attire was mostly black: consisting of large twin oval ring hair-clips on the sides of her head, a choker around her neck, a kind of leotard, stockings on her calves and boots on her feet.

"Hello humans,…" she spoke in voice that sounded like it was electronically distorted. "You may call me 'Converter'."

"And you can us the three stooges." Harley spoke back before slamming her mallet on the floor. "Why doncha come a little closer, doll? If ya wanna know what 100 pounds of slapstick feels like!"

Selina stepped up, defensively tightening the whip in her grip.

"What my friend is trying to say is: do you particularly have business with us? Or do you just happen to be in the neighborhood?"

"Ufufu." the strange woman merely giggled.

She sauntered forwards while fanning her sights around in fascination.

"What a magnificent world this is. So many timelines. So many possibilities. So much data. It's such a shame we didn't consider venturing here sooner."

"Is she ignorin' us!? HEY! We're talkin' here!" Harley yelled at her.

Like Selina, Ivy kept up a defensive posture. It was quite obvious to her that despite Converter's appearance, she wasn't human nor was she natural in any sort. And that left a lot of unnerving possibilities on what her motive could be.

"Something tell me she doesn't exactly have anyone's best interests in mind." Ivy said.

Frankly, Harley was glad for that fact. She didn't like the alien woman, especially since she just ruined her vacation plans!

"Then it's up ta us to bust her head open!"

The Misfit Mistress of Mayhem rushed at her before her companions could stop her. Harley took a few swings at Converter only for the mysterious woman to effortlessly dodge, floating in the air, while still maintaining her smile.

When Converter avoided another swing of the mallet by floating backwards, Harley attempted to surprise her by holding the face of her mallet up towards her.

"Pucker up, Buttercup!"

Harley said before the front of the mallet opened up and a huge boxing glove shot out attached to a long spring. She expected Converter to be sucker-punched but instead, the mysterious woman caught the boxing glove in her hand without breaking a sweat. Tossing the glove away, she then floated towards a stunned Harley who's lips then morphed into a sheepish and nervous grin.

"Eh-hehe, I don't suppose it's too late fer us to talk this over?"

THWACK!

Converter simply backhands the clown woman and send her crashing to the deck floor. Almost immediately, she then floated to the side to avoid a whip being lashed at her.

Like Harley, every attack from Selina's whip was expertly dodged until Converter suddenly grabbed on to the end of the whip and yanked Selina towards her before sending her off with a spinning kick.

Ivy tried a different approach by throwing a few seeds on the deck floor. They rapidly grew into dog-sized creatures with huge venus fly-trap heads and vine-like tentacles that acted like legs.

The plant creatures charged at the mysterious woman, snapping their jaws but she didn't look the least bit perturbed. With only a glint of her golden eyes, the large floating Rig behind her hummed to life and the gun barrels aimed before blasting away at the mutant plants, reducing them to mush.

The Gotham Sirens froze in astonishment, seeing that this woman…this actual Siren from the seas was easily giving them a run for their money.

They were starting to think that maybe they were in over their heads.

Meanwhile, as the black fleet continued to target the lone watercraft, Robin's boots touched down upon the deck of one of the ships. He ignored the firing turret right beside him and armed himself with his sword and a few red shurikens before silently making his way to the center of the ship.

His destination was the bridge of course, to neutralize the crew. But when he reached his target, he was surprised to find that there was nobody manning the wheel. In fact, there was nobody there period! The ship was piloting itself!

He was unable to stay frozen in his bewilderment for much longer as he could hear the distant 'WHIRRING' of machinery behind him and looked back to see that the adjacent black ship seemed to have 'spotted' him and was aiming its turrets towards him.

"Uh oh." he said.

Reacting just as the cannons fired at him, he ran through the bridge and away from the billowing explosion that filled the inside of the cabin. It would seem that the black ships didn't care if it sank one of their own to attack its target. As Robin made it outside and towards the edge of the deck, the force of the explosion blew him off his feet and sent him overboard towards the water.

Luckily, the Batman drove the Batboat just where he would fall and caught him with the open back seat before jetting off again.

Even though the Dark Knight was relieved that his son was safe he was still angry that he acted recklessly and was about to growl a lecture to him.

"When I tell you to stay put, I mean-"

But Robin didn't allow him the chance.

"Father, these ships are unmanned."

"What?"

As the cockpit canopy closed, Batman looked back as Damian elucidated his findings.

"There's not a single living person on board. My guess is that the ships are either being remotely controlled or being piloted by some kind of A.I."

Batman turned his steely eyes back forward as he sharply turned the boat around, facing the black fleet ahead of him.

"Then it's time for us to cut loose." he said as he fired a torpedo.

The underwater missile met it mark with an explosion and one of ships began to sink.

With the activation of the weapon systems, two mini-guns popped out of the sides of the Batboat's hull and a section extended above near the fin to reveal a long barrel cannon and twin volley missile launchers.

The rocket exhaust fired up and the Batboat sped ahead with literal guns blazing.

Back on board the Saint Dini, Selina and Harley weren't making much progress in their fight with Converter. The mysterious woman continued to evade and counterattack their every move with either her superhuman strength or fire power from her Rig, all while a cold smile remained on her face.

While Ivy struggled against her too, the Plant Mistress had been devising a strategy that she was sure would subdue her. She just needed to wait for the right opening to put her plan into motion. It came when she baited Converter to attack her with a kick then after dodging it, she came up right within a close distance of her to blow a sparkling pink dust from her hand right into her face.

It seemed to have worked! The mind-control plant pheromones appeared to have an effect on Converter, causing her to cough, stagger back and fall to one knee.

"That's right, breathe it in." Ivy jeered at her, feeling the thrill of victory.

Ivy walked up to with swaying hips, ramping up her seduction tactics to push her into her control.

"You belong to me, you can't resist me, you want me." she commanded with an almost sexual moan.

Whatever upper-hand Ivy thought she had on her immediately crumbled away when the Elite Siren suddenly surged up and grabbed her by the throat.

The plant mistress frantically struggled as her windpipe was squeezed and her voice reduced to a weak croak. Her widened desperate eyes could see that the unfeeling smile had remained on Converter face as if the pheromones did absolutely nothing to her, leaving her to believe that the mysterious woman had been pretending the whole time.

Converter brought her lips sensually close to Ivy's ear.

"Yesss, I do want you." she whispered. "In fact, I want all three of you."

With that, she threw the Plant Mistress with ease and crashed her body against Selina and Harley who both had been rushing to aid their comrade. The three femme fatales were knocked into a heap on the deck, groaning in pain as the Elite Siren loomed over them.

"Indeed, I believe that you three humans would make fine specimens."

She then held out her arms wide in a giving gesture as the black cubes materialized and floated in front of her before they were launched towards the three women.

Selina held her forearms out to block it but the cube didn't impact her. Instead, it passed right into her body!

She blinked, feeling nothing for a few seconds until she then noticed a smaller black cube sticking out of her abdomen followed by another growing next to it; and then another, and another. The Catwoman's eyes widened in horror as her body was being rapidly covered by small black cubes like she was being crystallized. She tried to get away but body wouldn't budge, being held down by the geometric growths.

"C-can't…move…" she struggled.

"Can't…breathe…" Ivy gasped as her body was being encased.

"OOWW! MY TATAS!" Harley screamed.

And just like that, the three villainesses of Gotham were cocooned in clusters of cubes.

"Ufu." Converter suppressed a playful giggle. "I suppose our time together is up. It really is such a pity, I think we would've enjoyed making this Earth our domain."

She hovered up in the air as she spoke and when she neared the seat of her throne, she swung out her arm as if giving a command. The Rig obeyed and charged up energy at the end of its gun barrels before barraging the ship. The ill-fated Saint Dini had at last broken apart with the damaged deck splitting and the waters ripping against it like claws. And as the ship began to sink, the cube clustered cocoons fell and impacted against the waters, sinking into its depths.

Converter vanished with a purple haze and so did the fleet of ships. However, the storm only intensified and the waters around the Saint Dini spiraled and dipped, deepening until a spinning vortex was formed with a void like chasm in the center.

No sooner did the maelstrom grow in its size and power did Batman and Robin find themselves trapped in the swirling current. The Dark Knight fought for control as the Batboat was tossed and rolled during its circular lap before being pulled closer towards the center.

"HANG ON!" Batman yelled through his grit teeth but it was all for naught.

The hull of the vessel rattled and strained to hold itself together until the cockpit canopy suddenly blew itself open and the father-and-son duo found themselves yanked off from their seats by the rushing waters and into the unforgiving brine. Batman reached out as the current pulled him away.

"Robin!"

His son reached out as well but the current sent them further apart. Even through the white of the domino mask's lense, he could see that the boy was terrified. Even with all his training from the League of Assassins, even with his combat prowess or his gall to face the deadliest enemies, nothing had prepared him for this.

"DAMIAN!"

That was all Batman could yell before he was swallowed by the sea.


The sun shone brightly through the cyan blue sky and its mild spattering of clouds while the chorus of seagulls and roaring waves sounded in harmony. Small flowers and blades of grass swayed with the sea breeze upon an outcropping of land just along the shoreline.

And it was there where a young girl skipped along.

She had a child-like appearance, looking no older than twelve, with purple eyes and long hair in cascading lavender curls with one side of her head tied in a bun with a black ribbon. She wore an elegant white dress with black ribbons running down its sides and flower-like embellishments along the hem of her skirt. There were also hand-less evening gloves on her arms, stockings on her legs and mary-jane shoes on her feet; all in the color white.

But the most curious thing about her appearance was the tiny ship's mast that protruded from her head.

Clutched tightly in both her arms was what appeared to be a unicorn plush which she then held to face her as she walked.

"Now, where shall we go next, U-chan?" the girl asked.

The plush, U-chan as it is named, stared blankly back at her with its button like eyes. However, as if it were a sentient creature, it abruptly turned its head towards the rocky shoreline.

"Hm?" the girl wondered and followed U-chan's gaze.

Her sight faced the vast blue ocean that glittered with whitecaps. While the scene was nothing unusual, she then noticed that there was also something small, dark and pointed poking out from just behind the outcropping.

Curiosity got the better of her and she walked towards the edge until the wide stretch of shore and rocks had come into view.

The girl gasped in shock when she found that what she had seen was the tip of a wreckage! A small black vessel had washed up on the shore, its components torn apart and scattered on the wet sand as the occasional waves gently lapped against it.

But the question still remained: Where did it come from? Was it from a sortie? A naval exercise?

She blinked, not knowing what to make of it and was starting to feel nervous about this discovery. If only her big sister were here, she'd know what to do.

In that moment, when she decided to that she needed to find her and tell her about this, was when she noticed something else that made her breath hitch.

There were two bodies lying on the beach, a larger one face down and a smaller one face up.

The girl again felt wrought with anxiety until her curiosity prompted her to make her way down the rocks, towards the two bodies.

She could see that the larger one was covered in some dark blue material and his cape splayed over him like a washed up octopus.

He looked frightening so she focused on the other one who was wearing a gray, black and red uniform and had a green domino mask over his eyes.

Kneeling just before his head with U-chan clutched by her side, she tentatively reached her hand over his face.

"Hrmgh…" a sound uttered from Damian's lip.

With a loud and surprised squeak, the girl fell back and quickly crawled backwards. She whimpered in fright, tears welling in her eyes as she hugged U-chan tightly. And then, she pushed herself up and scampered off as fast as she could.


The world faded back from darkness, albeit still a blurry haze. His mind was equally foggy but it steadily began to regain aching clarity and when he blinked his eyes a couple of times, his sight had finally cleared.

And what a sight it was.

Hovering above his face was a pair of massive breasts that were held together by white cotton fabric that seemed to have a ruffled placket running down the center. The placket abruptly ended just after the mid-portion of her breasts with a tiny white bow and parted with a triangular opening, giving him full view of her underside cleavage and the tantalizing flesh that threatened to spill out.

On the subject of the girl herself, all he could make out was her medium length silver blue hair and chin. Her arms were stretched out over him and seemed to be busy with something above his head.

"Hurrmm…?" was all Bruce could utter, his throat burning in the process.

The girl looked down and, like a deer in headlights, her pink colored eyes fixed on his for a moment until she flew back in startlement and stumbled on her feet.

"HYAAAAAAH!" she screamed as she struggled to regain her footing.

Bruce sat up on his bed in time to see another girl, one with ivory white bob cut hair, halt from mopping the floor and rushed to save her compatriot.

"Ack! Watch out, Dido!" she called out.

But in her haste, her foot got tangled in the mop bucket's handle which caused her to stumble while dragging the bucket along. And so Bruce witnessed the inevitable crashing of the two maids and them tumbling on the floor in a heap as the bucket's water splashed on to them.

Indeed, maids. Now that Bruce got a better look at them, he noticed that their outfits resembled french maid uniforms. Clearly not conventional and each designed differently yet both exposing vast quantities of their skin, the ivory haired girl in particular bearing a bountiful cleavage.

Not that he was complaining.

And now the two maids laid flat on the floor in a daze with their uniforms soaked to the point where the white fabric clung to their bosoms and turned translucent enough for him to see more of their skin.

Again, not that he was complaining.

The two girls groaned as they sat up but when they noticed Bruce staring at them, they quickly scrambled up on their knees and bowed apologetically.

"B-b-beg pardon, Good Sir!" the blue-haired girl stammered. "I was only trying to fluff your pillow! I didn't mean to bare myself to you in such a deplorable state!"

"The fault lies with me, Honorable Sir." said the ivory-haired girl. "I should have been less clumsy."

As Bruce looked at them weirdly, the blue-haired girl whimpered with her eyes turning weepy.

"I…I understand if you're angry with me. I'm a lowly useless maid who's only good for being abandoned like rubbish."

"Any issues you have with her, you can take it out on me. So punish me as harshly as you see fit!" the other girl declared as her cheeks tinged in excitement.

"Punish…you…?" Bruce echoed in confusion.

As titillating as the scene was, Bruce felt he would've enjoyed it a bit more if it wasn't for the pounding headache he was feeling. Besides, the moment didn't last long anyway because just then, the room's door suddenly swung open.

"What's all this ruckus about?" came a voice.

Both girls looked towards the door and reeled back in surprise.

"WAH! Head Maid!" they cried out together.

Bruce looked toward the same direction and he could've sworn he felt his breath being taken away.

Standing at the doorway was a tall beautiful woman with a slender frame and huge breasts. Along with her milky white skin and indigo eyes, she had radiant white hair that fell to her waist and two braids that were tied around from the sides of her head to the back. As the apparent Head Maid, she certainly looked the part with her own maid outfit that was sleeveless with a white bustier and a dark blue double breasted corset underneath. Though curiously, there were metal gauntlets fitted over her frilled arm gloves.

"Oh." she let a surprised breath, seeing Bruce awake.

Then her lips curled into a courteous yet self assured smile as she approached him.

"Well, it's good to see you up." she said. "You honestly had us a bit worried there."

The way she glided over the floor to him gave her an ethereal quality, like an angel, and Bruce couldn't help but blurt out…

"Am I dead?"

The Head Maid gave a humming chuckle while she opened up the curtains of the window just adjacent to his bed.

"Fufu. Barely. You suffered a concussion which left you unconscious for three days. You were lucky that you didn't drown."

Bruce grimaced as the light from outside flooded and caused the pain in his head to spike.

"Yeah, real lucky." he grunted sardonically.

Seeing his discomfort, the Head Maid turned to him in concern.

"How are you feeling?"

"In a word?" he said while massaging his forehead. "Crap."

"Ah. That is to be expected." she concluded, placing a finger against the side of her chin.

She seemed to mull on the matter for a moment until she suddenly bowed and curtsied to him while raising the sides of her skirt.

"Excuse me a moment, sir. I shall return shortly."

But first, she turned to the other two maids, who were still kneeling on the floor, and spoke in a firm lecturing manner.

"As for you two: would you kindly pick yourselves up from the floor and straighten up? As part of the Dido sisters, you both ought to carry yourselves with proper dignity."

"So they're sisters…" Bruce thought.

"Yes, Head Maid. Sorry, Head Maid." the two hung their heads and apologized.

After the Head Maid left, the two stood up and smoothed their clothing as best as they can, the wetness had also dried a little this point. They then picked up the mop and helped eachother mop up the remaining puddles of water

But when the blue-haired girl noticed that Bruce was still watching them, she turned to him with a look of guilt on her face.

"Um, I-I'd like to apologize again for my earlier behavior, Good Sir."

Bruce shook his head.

"You two have nothing to apologize for. It was an honest accident."

"You are much too kind, Honorable Sir." the ivory-haired girl curtsied.

While the two maids stood before him, Bruce glanced towards the window and from where he sat, he could make out the sun glittering over the outstretched sea. Now he thought about it, he could even smell the sea from here. But how did he even get here? He gave up trying to think on it because his headache got worse the more he tried to recall.

"What time is it, anyway?" he groaned while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It's past tea time." the ivory-haired girl answered. "Her Majesty's party must be well on its way."

"Her Majesty?" Bruce asked.

"That's what we call her at least." a voice came from the doorway.

Bruce looked to see that the Head Maid had returned much sooner than he expected, carrying a glass filled green liquid on top of a small tray.

"Usually, I personally oversee the arrangements but Her Majesty had specifically requested that I monitor your condition."

After walking to his side, she set the tray down on his bedside table and offered the glass to him.

"Here, drink this. It should help you get back on your feet."

With some hesitation, Bruce took the glass and winced as he gulped down what seemed to be some kind of detox smoothie; feeling the bitter and sour taste wash into his system.

"Would you like something to eat?" the Head Maid asked. "There's some freshly baked Scones in the kitchen."

Still grimacing, Bruce waved off his hand.

"I'm fine, thanks."

But the white-haired maiden exhibited a disapproving frown and proceeded to lecture him.

"That won't do at all, Good Sir. That's the fatigue speaking. You'll need to eat something if you want to get your strength back up."

"I'll have something later. And you can call me Bruce by the way."

He sent a smile her way and did so towards the other two maids.

"You two as well. I'm more interested in knowing about who you all are."

"Oh."

The Head Maid's eyes widened being taken aback but then her expression softly settled into a warm smile.

"Beg pardon,…Master Bruce." she voiced out his name. "I forgot my manners."

And so with a palm to her chest, the white-haired maid began the introductions.

"My name is Belfast, Head Maid of the Royal Maid Corps."

The blue-haired girl spoke up with her hands clasped over her apron.

"Um, Good day. My name Dido."

"And I'm her sister Sirius." the ivory-haired girl bowed. "It's an honor to meet you, Honorable Master Bruce."

"Strange names." Bruce internally remarked.

At first it seemed like an amicable atmosphere was developing between Bruce and the three maids but Befast then pushed any such ideas out of the way and resumed lecturing Bruce now that the introductions were over.

"Now as I was saying, Master Bruce: I insist that you eat a hearty meal and drink plenty of water. You'll only get weaker if you don't."

Bruce didn't let that bother him. In fact, he found himself quite charmed by the gallant Belfast and her lecturing. In a way, she reminded him of Alfred. A sexier version of Alfred.

"Okay, that's a bad thought." Bruce admitted to himself. "I know that Damian would never forgive me if I voiced that out loud."

At that thought, Bruce suddenly froze and furrowed his brow.

"Damian…"

And then, like a dam bursting, a surge of memories poured into his mind all at once.

"DAMIAN!" he exclaimed with wide eyes.

Needless to say, his sudden outburst took the three maids by surprise and caused them to sightly jump back.

"Eh, What?" said Belfast in a state of befuddlement.

Bruce sprung completely up from the bed, ignoring the three women and forgetting the ache in his body as he looked around frantically. It was like he had still been asleep this whole time and only now had truly awakened.

"Where am I!? Where's Damian!?"

"Damian?" Belfast echoed in confusion.

He looked at her and then marched up and desperately grabbed her by the shoulders.

"My son! WHERE'S MY SON!?" he yelled.

The action caused Belfast to freeze and her cheeks to tinge pink. In honesty, she never had much experience with the opposite sex and having Bruce at such proximity was throwing her mind for a loop.

Dido and Sirius had also blushed on the spot and it was only after a moment of stillness when Bruce glanced down and realized that the reason for the air of awkwardness was because he was practically naked; wearing nothing but a pair of briefs that noticeably bulged from either morning wood or arousal.

"Errm…"

Dido fidgeted nervously with her face still flushed pink while Sirius leaned forward and inspected the scene with a finger-gun under her chin.

"So, Master Bruce is the bold type. I should make a note of this if I am to please him in the future." she thought.

At that moment, the room's occupants were drawn towards the sounds of running footsteps coming from behind the door.

"Father? Is that you?" a voice called out.

The door swung open and it was none other than Damian who halted at the sight of his near naked father holding on to the Head Maid. After moment of silence, the boy then sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes.

"Seriously Father." he said incredulously. "If you're going to fornicate the locals, couldn't you at least be more discreet about it?"

Bruce immediately let go of Belfast who quickly stepped away to regain her composure.

"Damian…" Bruce took a step towards him.

A wave of relief and emotions washed over him as he neared his son. It's very well known that Bruce wasn't one to express feelings but at that moment, his fatherly instincts pushed everything aside and the urge to embrace his child took over him. Starting from the murder of his parents, he had lost so many people in his life over the years and he didn't know what he would've done had he lost Damian again.

However that moment of impulse vanished when Bruce noticed something about Damian's appearance.

"What are you wearing?" Bruce asked him.

"tt." Damian tugged on his collar in discomfort. "Unfortunately, my costume got damaged and until its mended, I'll be using this uniform they lent me."

It looked like a white Naval dress uniform, though without the hat. Considering that alongside their location near the sea, Bruce concluded that they were either in an Academy or…

"Is this a Naval base?" he asked.

"Indeed, Master Bruce." Belfast nodded. "You're on one of the island bases that houses the maritime alliance, Azur Lane."

"Azur Lane…" Bruce mentally echoed to himself.

He had never heard of such a thing and it only brought more questions to his mind.

"And when did you wake up?" Bruce addressed Damian again.

"Just yesterday but never mind that now, there was a reason I was on my way here. Someone was asking for you."

Bruce raised a questioning brow, prompting the Boy Wonder to continue.

"A woman named Illustrious had requested me to check up on you. Not that I was keen on being told what to do but our concerns just happened to align. She's waiting outside the building. Try not get distracted when you meet her, alright?"

"Lady Illustrious? She's here?" Dido said in surprise.

"Odd. I expected her to be with Her Majesty." Belfast surmised. "On the other hand, she was regularly visiting you while you were still unconscious, ever since you were found."

A deep frown creased upon Bruce's head as he pondered on the situation. He didn't know anything about where he was or if Belfast, Dido or anyone else here could fully be trusted. Then there was that mysterious fleet that attacked them and the fates of the villainesses he had been pursuing: Quinn, Ivy,…Selina.

Ignoring his heartache, he realized that he truly was in uncharted waters and the only path was to move forward and figure things out from there. After much deliberation, he finally turned to address Belfast.

"Miss Belfast, could you fetch me my suit?"

"Of course, Master Bruce." Belfast bowed respectfully. "I already have another uniform in your size ready and pressed."

Bruce shook his head.

"No. I meant the suit that I came in with."

TBC